Tamper bar for a tamping machine

ABSTRACT

A two part tamper bar consisting of a tamper bar shank and a tamper bar foot removably secured to the shank. The shank is made from high carbon steel, heat treated, and the foot is made from tool steel. The foot has an integral truncated conical projection that is receivable in a conical recess in the end of the shank. Novel means removably connects the foot to the shank. The foot is rectangular in shape and has an integral semi-conical portion on one face whose greatest radius is the same as the radius of the shank end that lies adjacent to the foot and the center of the radius of the semi-conical foot portion coincides with the center of the shank end radius. The other or second face of the foot has its plane lying tangent to the circumference of the shank end and, therefore, the second face will lie flush with one portion of the shank end circumference and the semi-conical portion will lie flush with another portion of the shank end circumference.

United States Patent 1 Burridge 11] 3,729,55 [451 Apr. 24, 1973 1 TAMPERBAR FOR A TAMPING MACHlNE [76] Inventor: George D. Bun-ridge, 36876Munyan St., Newark, Calif. 94560 [22] Filed: Mar. 24, 1971 [21] Appl.No.: 127,453

UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,581,664 6/1971 Kruse 104/12 2,313,401 3/1943Traylor et a1 104/13 3,036,482 5/1962, Kenworthy et al. ..'..7/11,270,639 6/1918 Malcom ..7/l 2,643,649 6/1953 Tarwater 104/1 3 PrimaryExaminer-Gerald M- Forlenza 49 W"? ineirBisbe VA- Bert Att0rney-WilliamR. Piper 7 1 ABSTRACT A two part tamper bar consisting of a tamper barshank and a tamper bar foot removably secured to the shank. The shank ismade from high carbon steel, heat treated, and the foot is made fromtool steel. The foot has an integral truncated conical projection thatis receivable in a conical recess in the end of the shank. Novel meansremovably connects the foot to the shank. The foot is rectangular inshape and has an integral semi-conical portion on one face whosegreatest radius is the same as the radius of the shank end that liesadjacent to the foot and the center of the radius of the semi-conicalfoot portion coincides with the center of the shank end radius. Theother or second face of the foot has its plane lying tangent to thecircumference of the shank end and, therefore, the second face will lieflush with one portion of the shank end circumference and thesemi-conical portion will lie flush with another portion of the shankend circumference.

6 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures Patented April 24, 1973 3,729,055

INVENTOR. GEORGE D. BURRIDGE ATTORNEY TAMPER BAR FOR A TAMPING MACHINEBACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention:

Tamper bars are used by all railroad companies for maintaining therailroad right-of-way roadbeds. A plurality of tamper bars are connectedto and operated by a machine which tamps ballast between and under therailroad ties to strengthen and level the tracks or rails. Tamper barsas presently used by the railroads are a solid one piece or they aremade in two pieces consisting of a shank and a foot. The foot is boltedto the shank. When the foot becomes worn through use, the tamper barmust be removed from the machine, returned to the supplier forreplacement of the foot with a new foot and, finally, returned to themachine. This style of tamper bar again is costly to use due to the timeit takes to remove the tamper bar shank with the worn foot from themachine and the replacement of another shank with a new foot boltedthereto.

I provide a two part tamper bar wherein a new foot can be substitutedfor the worn one without the necessity of removing the shank from thetamping machine. The foot is designed to protect the shank in thatcertain surfaces of the foot are shaped to lie flush with the adjacentsurfaces on the shank. This arrangement will retard and resist any wearon the base of the shank. The semi-conical portion on the foot not onlyprotects the shank end from wear, but it will also eliminate damage to arailroad tie should the operator of the tamping machine overshoot thedistance when depressing the tamper bars as he moves from one locationto another. The particular shape of the foot protects the shank and willpractically eliminate the need for replacing the shank. Also, since anew foot can be substituted for a worn one without removing the shankfrom the machine, a tremendous saving in time for making thechangeresults.

2. Description of the Prior Art The patent to Heinrich Steinhage, US.Pat. No. 2,224,658, issued Dec. 10, I940, discloses a shank with a boreextending inwardly from one end and receiving a rod that is integralwith a foot. The foot has a wedgeshaped lower end for entering theballast of rocks that support the railroad tracks. The top of the foothas a rectangular surface that is not with the shaped to lie flushadjacent outer surface of the lower end of the shank. No means is shownin the patent for securing the rod of the foot to the shank.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of my invention is to provide a twopiece tamper bar in which the foot, when it becomes worn through use,can be removed from its supporting shank and a new foot substituted,this operation taking place at the machine, thus obviating the necessityof removing both shank and foot and sending them back to the shop forthe substitution of a new foot and connecting it to the shank. The footis made from tool steel which will withstand the shock and wear of thetamping operation to a greater extent than the shank which is made fromhigh carbon steel, heat treated. Moreover, the side surfaces of the footare shaped to lie flush with the adjacent outer surface of the shank andthis will protect the shank from receiving the brunt of any blowsdelivered by the machine in moving the shank for driving the foot downinto the ballast of the railroad bed.

A further object of my invention is to provide a two part tamper bar inwhich novel means is used for removably connecting the foot to theshank. This means can be operated where the machine is being used andthus permits a new tamper foot to be substituted for a worn one withoutthe necessity of removing the tamper shank from the machine.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is a side elevation of thetamper bar and shows the foot connected to the shank. Portions of thebar and foot are shown in section.

FIG. 2 is a view of the assembled tamper foot and shank when looking inthe direction of the arrows 2-2 in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 illustrates a right hand tamper foot.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged transverse section through the shank and is takenalong the line 44 of FIG. 2.

FIG. 5 is a longitudinal section through a portion of the foot and shankon the same scale as FIG. 4 and is taken along the line 5-5 of FIG. 2.The lock screw for securing the foot to the shank is not shown in FIG.5.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT In carrying out my invention 1provide a shank A for a tamper bar that is adapted to be connected to atamping machine, not shown, in the usual manner, see FIGS. 1 and 2. Theshank is preferably made from high carbon steel and the lower portion ofthe shank has a slightly tapered cylindrical outer surface as indicatedat l. The lower end 2 of the shank A has a circular circumference and arecess 3 extends inwardly from this end and it has a conical wall 4. Theaxis of the recess 3 coincides with the axis of the shank.

A tamper foot, indicated generally at B in FIGS. 1, 2, 3 and 5, ispreferably made of tool steel and it has a rectangularly-shaped blade 5that has a blunt lower edge 6 designed to be forced into the gravel of arailroad ballast bed, not shown. The inner face 7 of the foot thatnormally is disposed near a railroad tie, not shown, when the shank andfoot are being used has its lower portion bevelled at 8, see FIG. 1. Theinner face 7 parallels an opposed outer face 9 and the rectangular blade5 has an integral semi-conical portion 10 that is centered on the blade,see FIG. 2, and whose axis coincides with the axis of an integraltruncated conical projection C that is designed 'to be removablyreceived in the recess 3 in the shank and to be aligned with the axis ofthe recess.

There generally are three types of tamper bar feet. I show two of thethree types in FIGS. 1, 2, 3 and 4. A center foot B is shown in FIGS.ll, 2 and 4 where the conical projection C and the semi-conical portion10 are centered between the opposite sides 11 and 12 of the rectangularblade 5. A left hand foot B is illustrated in FIG. 3 and here theconical projection C is disposed closer to the edge 12' than to the edge11'. A right hand foot is not shown.

The taper on the truncated conical projection C for the foot 3 is thesame as the taper of the wall 4 of the recess 3 in the shank A and theprojection C is designed to seat in the recess before the end 13 of theprojection reaches the inner end 14 of the recess. Also, the lower end 2of the shank will be spaced above the upper edge 15' of the rectangularblade 5. Therefore, all of the striking force of the foot B, as it isforced into the gravel of the railroad bed, not shown, will betransmitted to the shank A through the conical surface of the projectionC and the conical wall 4 of the shank recess 3. The preferred taper ofthe conical recess wall 4 and the conical outer surface of theprojection C is preferably (0.050 inch), although I do not wish to beconfined to this particular measurement.

The concial projection C for the tamper foot B is provided with anannular groove 15. The purpose of this groove will be explained whendescribing the operation of the device. The projection C also has a flatinclined portion 16, see FIGS. 1 and 3, against which the inner end of alock screw 17 contacts for securing the foot B to the shank A. The lockscrew 17 is received in a threaded opening 18 provided in the shank. Theaxis of the threaded opening 18 is perpendicular to the plane of theinclined flat portion 16 on the projection C. The lock screw 17 has anon-circular socket in its outer end for receiving a wrench, not shown,by means of which the lock screw can be screwed into locking position.

FIG. 1 further shows a pin 19 mounted in the shank A and the inner endof the pin is received in a longitudinally extending groove 20, providedin the conical projection C when the tamper foot B is connected to theshank, see also FIG. 3. The purpose of the guide pin 19 and the groove20 is to properly align the tamper foot with the shank A so that whenthe shank is mounted in the tamper machine, the foot will be in theproper position.

OPERATION From the foregoing description of the various parts of thedevice, the operation thereof may be readily understood. One of thefeatures of my tamper bar shank A and the removable foot B is to shapethe surfaces of the foot so that they will lie flush with the adjacentsurfaces of the shank. In this way the lower end of the shank will befully protected by the foot. Note in FIGS. 1 and 5, the upper end of thesemi-conical portion which is integral with the foot B, has asemi-cylindrical surface 10a whose radius is the same as that of theadjacent circular end 2 of the shank. Also, FIG. 4 shows that the face 9of the foot B lies tangent to the adjacent circular end 2 of the shank.Therefore, the entire lower end 2 of the shank A will be protected fromwear by the foot B. This feature eliminates approximately 90 percent ofthe wear or erosion to the lower portion 1 of the shank A, thus almosteliminating shank replacement.

The semi-conical integral portion 10 for the tamper foot B eliminatespossible damage by the tamper shank or tamper foot to the railroad tie.Should the downward motion of the tamper foot strike the railroad tie,the semi-conical portion 10 will be the nearest to the tie and it willtend to deflect the foot and also the shank away from the tie ratherthan break or splinter the tie.

The alignment pin 19 assures positive alignment of the foot B to theshank A, thus permitting the foot to be removed from the tamper shankand replaced by a new one at the tamping machine site in the fieldwithout the customary removal of the tamper bar from the machine.

The lock screw 17, see FIG. 1, serves as a positive locking action forsecuring the foot B to the shank A.

Another feature of my invention is the annular groove 15 in the conicalprojection C for the foot. When the foot tapered projection C isinserted into the tapered recess 3 in the shank A, the constant tampingaction will cause a coining action to the conical bore 4 of the recess 3as the projection C wears into the wall 4, see FIG. 5. The annulargroove 15 divides the conical wall of the projection C into two bearingsurfaces 21 and 22, one on each side of the groove. These two surfaces21 and 22 on the projection C tend to coin the mating surface portionson the conical wall 4 of the recess 3, and the portion of the conicalwall that is disposed opposite to the annular groove 15 will not bemined and, therefore, will remain of the same diameter thus creating anannular inwardly extending rib 23 which will extend into the groove andtend to lock or secure the two mating sections together, i.e., theconical projection C and the recess 3. An epoxy resin, not shown, may beused on the lock screw 17 to insure that it will remain tight and notloosen due to vibrations in the operation of the tamping machine.

I claim:

1. A tamper bar comprising:

a. a vertical shank having a recess extending inwardly from its lowerend, the recess having a conical wall; and

b. a foot having a conical projection extending above an upper edge ofsaid foot and adapted to be removably receivable in said recess, thesize of the conical wall of the projection and the size of the conicalwall of said recess being such as to prevent the inner end of theconical projection from contacting with the inner end of said recess,said conical projection also spacing the upper edge of said foot belowthe adjacent end of said shank when said conical projection is snuglyreceived in said conical recess;

c. said foot having a lower blunt edge with the inner and outer surfacesof said foot extending between said upper and lower edges, the portionsof these inner and outer surfaces of the foot that lie adjacent to saidshank being shaped so as to lie flush with the adjacent surface portionsof said shank.

2. The combination as set forth in claim 1: and in which a. the conicalprojection on said foot having a flat inclined portion; and

b. a lock screw removably mounted in a threaded opening whose axis isperpendicular to the plane of said flat inclined portion;

c. whereby said lock screw can be screwed into said threaded opening forcontacting with said flat inclined portion for holding said conicalprojection of said foot from accidental removal from said shank recess.

3. The combination as set forth in claim 1: and in which a. said conicalprojection of said foot having an annular groove spaced from the end ofsaid projection,

b. whereby said groove is designed to receive any annular rib-likeprojection formed by the coining" action created by the successivestrokes by said shank delivered to said foot through the conical wall ofsaid shank recess contacting with the adjacent conical surfaces of saidprojection disposed on both sides of said annular groove, the annularrib-like projection thus formed tending to hold said conical projectionin said shank recess.

4. The combination as set forth in claim 1: and in which a. the outersurfaces of said foot that lie adjacent to said shank are stream-linedwith the adjacent outer surface of said shank include the outer surfaceofa blade-shaped portion of said foot whose plane is tangent to thecircumference of the circular end of said shank, the opposite parallelsurface of said blade-shaped portion having an integral semi-conicalportion whose greatest radius equals the radius of the shank circularend, the axis of said semi conical portion coinciding with the axis ofsaid conical projection of said foot and also coinciding with the axisof said shank recess.

, 5. A tamper foot comprising:

which a. the inner surface of said blade-like portion being bevelledtoward said outer surface from a point coinciding with the apex of saidintegral semi-conical portion and extending to the lower edge of saidblade-like portion.

1. A tamper bar comprising: a. a vertical shank having a recessextending inwardly from its lower end, the recess having a conical wall;and b. a foot having a conical projection extending above an upper edgeof said foot and adapted to be removably receivable in said recess, thesize of the conical wall of the projection and the size of the conicalwall of said recess being such as to prevent the inner end of theconical projection from contacting with the inner end of said recess,said conical projection also spacing the upper edge of said foot belowthe adjacent end of said shank when said conical projection is snuglyreceived in said conical recess; c. said foot having a lower blunt edgewith the inner and outer surfaces of said foot extending between saidupper and lower edges, the portions of these inner and outer surfaces ofthe foot that lie adjacent to said shank being shaped so as to lie flushwith the adjacent surface portions of said shank.
 2. The combination asset forth in claim 1: and in which a. the conical projection on saidfoot having a flat inclined portion; and b. a lock screw removablymounted in a threaded opening whose axis is perpendicular to the planeof said flat inclined portion; c. whereby said lock screw can be screwedinto said threaded opening for contacting with said flat inclinedportion for holding said conical projection of said foot from accidentalremoval from said shank recess.
 3. The combination as set forth in claim1: and in which a. said conical projection of said foot having anannular groove spaced from the end of said projection; b. whereby saidgroove is designed to receive any annular rib-like projection formed bythe ''''coining'''' action created by the successive strokes by saidshank delivered to said foot through the conical wall of said shankrecess contacting with the adjacent conical surfaces of said projectiondisposed on both sides of said annular groove, the annular rib-likeprojection thus formed tending to hold said conical projection in saidshank recess.
 4. The combination as set forth in claim 1: and in whicha. the outer surfaces of said foot that lie adjacent to said shank arestream-lined with the adjacent outer surface of said shank include theouter surface of a blade-shaped portion of said foot whose plane istangent to the circumference of the circular end of said shank, theopposite parallel surface of said blade-shaped portion having anintegral semi-conical portion whose greatest radius equals the radius ofthe shank circular end, the axis of said semi-conical portion coincidingwith the axis of said conical projection of said foot and alsocoinciding with the axis of said shank recess.
 5. A tamper footcomprising: a. a blade-like portion having parallel outer and innersurfaces and upper and lower edges; b. said inner surface having anintegral semi-conical portion whose apex lies in the plane of said innersurface and whose upper end lies flush with the upper edge of saidblade-like portion; and c. an integral conical projection extendingupwardly from the upper edge of said blade-like portion and from theupper end of said integral semi-conical portion.
 6. The combination asset forth in claim 5: and in which a. the inner surface of saidblade-like portion being bevelled toward said outer surface from a pointcoinciding with the apex of said integral semi-conical portion andextending to the lower edge of said blade-like portion.